Going back to World War I, many of our military in combat suffered what was called “Shell Shock.” Although science and medicine had made considerable advances at the time of the war they were still in the dark about this seemingly ‘new’ disorder that was plaguing our military. Almost from the start of the war soldiers in combat began exhibiting signs of anxiety, dizziness, tremors and hypersensitivity to noise. These ailments were attributed to neurological damage caused by artillery fire. Experts believed that the concussion of enemy artillery bursts near or in the trenches the soldiers were caused physical damage to the brain and nervous systems of soldiers.. They called it “Shell Shock.” In 1916 as many as 40 percent of all casualties were attributed to suffering from this. The condition became controversial with many in the military’s upper echelons rejecting it outright as an excuse. By 1917, frustrated generals went so far as to ban all diagnosis of shell shock and began to censor all references to it in official reports as well as the media.
Shortly after the war a New Jersey pathologist drew attention to a symptom complex that affected professional boxers, “Punch Drunk,” a condition well known to boxing enthusiasts that appeared to result from repeated sub-lethal blows to the head. The symptoms were similar to those of World War I personnel who claimed to suffer from Shell Shock. Further research revealed that explosive blasts caused shock waves that either passed directly through the skull or entered the body, not just the head; it was transmitted into the chest or abdominal cavities and surges to the brain by way of the bodies’ vasculature. Once in the skull the waves advances through the brain at the speed of sound, passing through both fluid and matter, which respond differently to the wave’s properties, bruising the brain. The blast waves seem to cause damage at the boundaries of different structures, such as between brain matter and cerebrospinal fluids and between gray and white brain matter. The shock waves cause the brain to strike against the skull causing the damage. This damage is also similar to the concussions of football players. The term was classified as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
The use of explosive materials has increased in wars since World War I. The recent Iran and Afghanistan wars used land mines, car bombs and bombs attached to people and children as their major weapons. Now 11 to 20 percent of all veterans have these symptoms. The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that tens of thousands of veterans and military service members deployed in Iran and Afghanistan have sustained Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). However, even though TBI is a concussion of the brain and more serious than a flesh wound, those suffering TBI are denied the Purple Heart Medal. Please help us change that problem and get them the medal they deserve. We need to ask our congress to review this problem and award those veterans the medal they deserve.
Help is available to you by calling the local VA hospital in Northport, (631) 261-4400 or Veterans Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255, press 1 to talk to a veteran or have a confidential chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net or text to 838255.
If you have any question relating to veteran problems please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to answer it. Contact us at Drfred72@Gmail.com.
Rev. Frederick Miller, Ph.D.